Below: The My Name Is Barbra CD front & back covers. The CD first appeared on shelves in September 1987. The CD was then remastered in 1994, retaining the same catalog number. The CD artwork stayed the same on all versions. Streisand's feet are cut off on the back cover of the CD.

* Track 11, "Why Did I Chose You", is actually longer on the CD (3:47) than it was on the original LP (2:49). The CD version of this track included an instrumental break that the LP did not.

* Track 6, "Where is the Wonder" was changed for the 1994 remaster. The 1987 version was 2:15 long. The 1994 remaster restored the last downbeat that ended the song, making the track 2:19. (Yes, it's nit-picky, but it's also the way the song was originally recorded and is the way it's supposed to end!) If you compare the two, you will hear that they simply faded Barbra's voice out on the 1987 CD.

About the Album

Released: May 1965

Produced by Robert Mersey

Arranged and Conducted by Peter Matz

Cover Photo: Sheldon J. Streisand

Back Cover Photos: Peter Oliver

(Above: Advertising for the album. Scan courtesy of John Nolan)

The My Name is Barbra soundtrack album was released May 1965. (My Name Is Barbra, Two..., its sequel, was released October 1965 to coincide with the rebroadcast of the special on CBS.)

Barbra recorded the two albums in studio sessions at Columbia's Studio A, located at 799 7th Avenue in New York.

Roger Perry and Johnny Melfi wrote a Broadway musical called Nothing Can Stop Me Now. James Darren sang one of the songs from the show—“A Kid Again”—in his Cocoanut Grove act. Barbra Streisand was in the audience that night and told Perry and Melfi she'd like to record it. (She also recorded “I Like Him” — written for the same show).

Barbra sang “I'm Five” during the childhood sequence as she sat in an oversized chair. Milton Schafer wrote the words and music for this song which was recorded by Danny Kaye on a 1958 Capitol Records album for children called Mommy Gimme a Drinka Water.

Streisand recorded several numbers from the musical The Yearling, which opened December 10th, 1965 at the Alvin Theatre and closed after only three performances. The Yearling was based on the Pulitzer winning novel about a boy and his pet fawn by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Its composer was Michael Leonard (who reportedly coached Streisand vocally). From Leonard’s score, Barbra sang “I’m All Smiles,” “My Pa” (which was cut out-of-town), “Why Did I Choose You?” and “The Kind of Man a Woman Needs.”

“I Can See It,” by Tom Jones (lyrics) and Harvey Schmidt (music), was from the long-running musical The Fantasticks. Including “I Can See It,” Streisand recorded four songs from their score ( "Soon It's Gonna Rain" and "Much More" on The Barbra Streisand Album; and a phrase of "Try To Remember" on Color Me Barbra.)

Barbra's version of “If You Were the Only Girl in the World” altered the lyric from Girl to Boy. It was written in 1916 by Nat Ayer and Clifford Gray.

Barbra's recording of “My Man” appeared for the first time on My Name is Barbra. The song has become a signature song for her. Maurice Yvain wrote “Mon Homme”; J. Charles and A. Willemetz wrote the French lyrics; Chaning Pollack wrote the English lyrics. The song was renamed “My Man” when Fanny Brice recorded it in America in 1921. Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf recorded their own versions of the song.

(Above): Columbia released both albums together on reel-to-reel tape (Columbia H2C4), which is a format no longer produced.

The comedien Allan Sherman—he was a song parodist in the mid-1960s, most famous for the song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"—released a comedy song album titled My Name is Allan Sherman. The album cover parodied Streisand's.

Singles

Billboard Charts

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine.

Here's the numbers for this Streisand album:

Debut Chart Date: 5-22-65

No. Weeks on Billboard 200 Albums Chart: 68

Peak Chart Position: #2

Gold: 12/2/65

Gold: 500,000 units shipped

Note: The record company must submit an album to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) where it undergoes a certification process to become eligible for an award. The process entails an independent sales audit, which calculates the quantity of singles or albums shipped for sale, net after returns. The audit surveys shipments to the entire music marketplace, including retail, record clubs, television sales, Internet orders and other ancillary markets. Based on the certification of these shipments, a title is awarded Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum or Diamond status. The data here comes directly from official sources, mainly the RIAA online database.

Grammy Awards

Best Female Vocal Performance - My Name Is Barbra album

Album Of The Year Nomination: My Name Is Barbra {Award went to Frank Sinatra for September Of My Years}

(Below: an industry ad for Barbra's Grammy award)

Album Cover Outtakes

Barbra's brother, Sheldon J. Streisand, took the photograph of Streisand as a child which appeared on the front cover of this album. Robert Cato (Columbia Records graphic designer) and Sheldon Streisand were both nominated for a Grammy Award for the front cover photograph.

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